The subject matter herein relates generally to coaxial cable connectors, and more particularly, to methods and features for connecting coaxial cable connectors together.
Coaxial cable connectors are used to join cables together or to join a cable to an electronic component such as a circuit board. The coaxial cable connectors typically include a first mating half in the form of a plug and a second mating half in the form of a jack. Different types of coaxial plugs and jacks are known. For example, one known type of connector system is known as a Type-N connector system that uses threaded connectors to join coaxial cables to one another. Type-N connectors were originally developed to provide a durable, weatherproof, medium-size radio frequency (RF) connector having consistent performance through 11 GHz and were one of the first connectors capable of carrying microwave-frequency signals. An exemplary application for these connectors is the termination of medium to miniature size coaxial cable, including RG-8, RG-58, RG-141, and RG-225. The N connector may follow the MIL-C-39012 standard, defined by the US military, and comes in 50 and 75 ohm versions, the latter of which is used in the cable television industry. RF coaxial connectors are important elements in the cable system in terms of overall system performance.
Conventional Type-N connector systems include two basic components: a plug that utilizes a center pin (i.e., male gender); and a jack that utilizes a center socket (i.e., female gender), to which the plug is connected. Connecting these components to one another involves turning a collar included on the plug to engage threading included on the jack. Turning the collar typically involves the use of a somewhat unwieldy torque wrench. This wrench tightens the collar to a specific, predetermined torque value for ensuring that the ground plane of the connectors has a proper connection. Because the use of the torque wrench is inconvenient, and may damage the plug if the wrench is improperly used, there is an ongoing need for an N connector system that does not require the use of a wrench.